Fantasy Literature for Children ages 9-12.
The Stonekeeper & The Stonekeeper’s Curse by Kazu Kibuishi
Kazu Kibuishi is the author of the AMULET series, a set of young adult graphic novels published by Scholastic. Book One, The Stonekeeper, and Book Two, The Stonekeeper’s Curse, are fast, accessible stories with likeable characters who face difficult challenges.
In The Stonekeeper, Emily and Navin’s impoverished mother moves them away from everything they know after their father is killed in a car accident on an icy road.
July 27th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Kazu Kibuishi | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Albert of Adelaide by Howard L. Anderson
“He was beginning to feel that his escape from the zoo and his flight through the desert had been for nothing. Here he was, where Old Australia was supposed to be, a place where he was to have a home, friends, and others of his kind. Now he was finding that the only way he could even get a beer in this country was at gunpoint.”
Albert of Adelaide (2012) is a new entrant into the ranks of talking animal books.
July 18th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Howard L. Anderson | Children | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Song of the Wanderer by Bruce Coville
I have promises to keep, and wounds to heal…
This is the second book in THE UNICORN CHRONICLES, a four part series by children’s author Bruce Coville, which also includes a short story to be found in the unicorn-themed anthology A Glory of Unicorns. In the first instalment, Into the Land of the Unicorns, Cara Hunter was transported via an amulet into Luster, the world into which unicorns fled when Earth became too unsafe for them to inhabit.
June 12th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Into the Land of Unicorns by Bruce Coville
The wanderer is weary…
I had just finished reading THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy and was in search of something lighter to read — and what could be lighter than a book about unicorns, right? Well, Into the Land of the Unicorns is squarely aimed at a seven-to-ten year old reading range, but it manages to have a certain level of depth and darkness that certainly elevates it above the usual “rainbows and candy-floss” favour that usually surrounds the subject of unicorns.
June 9th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Bruce Coville | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Forest King: Woodlark’s Shadow by Dan Mishkin (author) & Tom Mandrake (illustrator)
Justin’s family has moved to the town where his dad grew up, and they now live in a house on the edge of an ancient forest. Justin knows something evil is lurking in the forest but faces ridicule from his friends and disbelief from the adults. When his friends get hurt by a strange creature playing in the forest, Justin knows that he has to act to save everyone he cares about from danger.
Woodlark’s Shadow (2006),
May 25th, 2012. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2 | Dan Mishkin | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Mastermind Plot by Angie Frazier
Zanna Snow is excited when her grandmother invites her to visit Boston. She barely knows her grandmother, but this gives her a chance to spend more time with her uncle Bruce, the famous detective, and with her cousin Will. It’s not long before Zanna catches wind of another mystery and sets out to solve it. Meanwhile, Grandmother has enrolled her in a prestigious academy for young ladies, where one of her classmates seems determined to make her life miserable. On top of all that, Zanna is being followed around town by a mysterious old man.
March 16th, 2012. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Angie Frazier | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop
The Castle in the Attic is a warm story about a boy, an old toy castle, and a much-loved housekeeper. William does not want his babysitter, Mrs. Phillips, to leave him and return to England. William swears he will do anything to keep her with him (absolutely anything). But when she gives him her old miniature stone castle and its lone knight, William fears there will be no way to keep her around. Until the knight comes to life.
The story of William and the Silver Knight is nothing if not heartwarming.
January 15th, 2012. Skye Walker´s rating: 5 | Elizabeth Winthrop | Children | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Mischief Monster by Bruce Coville
The Mischief Monster is the fourth book in Bruce Coville’s delightful MOONGOBBLE AND ME series for ages 9-12. I’ve been listening to this series of short books on audio with my girls who are 6 and 9 years old. Each book is about an hour long and dramatized by Full Cast Audio, which means there’s a cast of readers playing parts rather than just one narrator.
In The Mischief Monster, Edward, Moongobble, and their friends try to return a mischievous monster princess named Snelly to her home in Monster Mountain.
January 7th, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Bruce Coville | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King by William Joyce & Laura Geringer
Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King (2011) is an early installment in THE GUARDIANS OF CHILDHOOD, a planned series of books incorporating and re-tooling (or re-mythologizing) those familiar icons of childhood: Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, etc. A long picture book, The Man in the Moon, begins the series and is the story of Tsar Lunar,
December 13th, 2011. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Evil Elves by Bruce Coville
Moongobble has successfully (sort of) completed two of his three tasks to prove that he deserves to be a magician. His third task is to retrieve a jewel called The Queen’s Belly Button, which has the power to turn its owner evil, from the elves who stole it. The elves, who used to be peaceful creatures, have been badly influenced by the Belly Button and they do not want to give it back.
Edward et al. once again set out with Moongobble to help him get the jewel.
December 3rd, 2011. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Bruce Coville | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Always my pleasure, Marion! I'm almost finished with Book #3 now, and hope to be reporting on it very shortly....
After reading your review, I'm quite sure I never read this one, or Book Three for that matter. I loved…
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On her blog, "Aunt Beast" says she is in the early stages of working on another Tinfoil Dossier novella, so…
Caitlin Kiernan is an amazing stylist, but her work leaves me feeling bleak and hopeless.